Metal detector

[Falcon]

I'm Picking up a starter metal detector from Maplin's tomorrow. Does anyone know anywhere round Middlesex that I could use it to find fired cases or similar items?

 

[spotter]

id use it to go around local parks find some money and buy whatever cartridges you want .its a lot safer as you never know what youll dig up on old ranges.searching for ammo spent of otherwise is definately not recomended

 

[Falcon]

Yesterday on a piece of waste ground near my house I was testing the detector. All I found that I could dig out was a crushed coke can (which I eft behind) and a 1/4" drill bit.

However, I did notice a threaded piece of metal poking out of the ground on a steep bank which leads down to a small river. On closer examination it turned out to be a Mills Grenade centre piece! As it was already extremely corroded and pitted I sand blasted it at work today. Some of the markings on the bottom came up. They are "Z" or "N" (not sure which way up it is supposed to go) and "41". This item has never been exploded (but contains no cap of fuze).

I will now have to investigate further as to any Home Guard activity in the area. However, some of this site was used as a landfill site, and the soil is extremely difficult to dig because it is so full up with rubble and hardcore. This also means that the mills centre piece could have come from anywhere. It is interesting that it appears to have come from a dismantled, not detonated grenade. The fuze channel is intact and the threads are not stripped. However there is now a small hole at the top, as some of the zinc had corroded completely and disappeared when I sand blasted it.

I will post anything else I find at the site or information I find out here. I might also take a full sized spade as I only had a garden trowel with me

 

[waffenamt]

As the other boys say,please be careful were you intend to dig.

Well done on your find mate.Thats an interesting angle on the Home Guard you mention.

best

waff

 

[paul the grenade]

ive found complete centre tubes still with a lot of original varnish on them on a local 2ww range alongside many exploded ones and gren shrapnell. ive wondered for ages how this could happen. i cant see the grenades being dismantled by soldiers and surly if the gren was a blind and had to be destroyed later it would show some signs of the explosion.:tinysmile_angry_t:
anyone got any ideas?
paul.

 

[Falcon]

At the weekend I'll take the shovel and turn over the soil in the same area to see if anything else comes up. The bank where I found it could have been a grenade range I suppose. The river is only about 6 feet across by a foot deep at most, it would have been easy to stand on one side and throw over the river.

If I find anything dodgy I'll just bury it again, I'm not calling the police and having my details taken and treated like a criminal when I've done nothing.

 

[spotter]

if you do find anything dodgy you may not get chance to re bury it.
again due to the nature of ordnance "it is designed to cause injury or death" Bocn does not recomend or condone searching of training areas old or new unless by professional clearance teams.These ranges may have been cleared in the past but the technology available years ago was only good to shallow depths and items can and do work there way back to the surface ,Ive seen rust encrusted grenades that have been like new inside just waiting to get all excited and do what they were intended to do..If you do find anything never mind burying it again you should note the location and notify the police immediately,If your not tresspassing or doing anything you know to be illegal you have nothing to worry about.Reburying just causes a potential life threatening hazard for someone else

 

[waffenamt]

if you do find anything dodgy you may not get chance to re bury it.
again due to the nature of ordnance "it is designed to cause injury or death" Bocn does not recomend or condone searching of training areas old or new unless by professional clearance teams.These ranges may have been cleared in the past but the technology available years ago was only good to shallow depths and items can and do work there way back to the surface ,Ive seen rust encrusted grenades that have been like new inside just waiting to get all excited and do what they were intended to do..If you do find anything never mind burying it again you should note the location and notify the police immediately,If your not tresspassing or doing anything you know to be illegal you have nothing to worry about.Reburying just causes a potential life threatening hazard for someone else

Ive got to admit that lately BOCN have had a few alive-alive no-no`s recently.
Best thing is for us all to tighten up with the pictures and write ups of live/dig ups and suggestions for digging ranges.
Sorry to be a killjoy but im only doing my job!:tinysmile_tongue_t:

regards

waff

 

[jayteepee_1999]

The military are possibly getting rid of the HHMD (4C replacement). keep an eye out on the market for them...

 

[spotter]

the Ebinger EBEX 420 HHMD (hand held mine detector) is a good bit of kit,locates all metals and is easy to operate,I saw one for sale about 2 years ago for only 50,if id had the cash then i would have snapped it up,i cant find my docs on it at the moment but i think the search depth is about 18in

 

[jayteepee_1999]

0.7m Depth that may be 18" but I only know metric on this.......

 

[spotter]

there you go even better almost 30 inches

Just like to add,if anyone does get hold of one f the Ex MOD Ebex,s try and get a spare headset for them,these have pretty fragile connectors and the set will not work without them plugged in

 

[Falcon]

I would have snapped up an Ex-MoD unit for 50, it would surely be a bit better made than my Maplin one.

 

[waffenamt]

Are these ex MOD units big bulky things though compared to a civvy one?

cheers

waff

 

[spotter]

no they arnt they can be used in long and short set up,they notify you of finds by audible signal only ,their are no large seperate battery packs to be carried ,basically its a tube with a search head , ,you can happilly swing these around all day

 

[spotter]

Managed to find a photo of me using the Ebex ,It is set up in long mode ,ive added a the red line so you can see the full length of this set

 

[spotter]

I finally managed to pick up a mod released L77A1 ebex 420pb on auction for only 33 plus pnp,,It was sold as a collectors item only as the seller could not test it due to it having no headset.Fortunately i was given an external speaker for one earlier this year so i took a gamble..first try it didnt seem promising the adjustment knob was almost solid ,i dismantled it and found it appeared to have been dismantled before and badly reassembled.It now works perfectly,
next step give it a coat of paint to freshen it up and find the correct headset..

 

[Grenademan2005]

Is it a military mine detector?

 

[Harvey]

Is it a military mine detector?

The example shown above is a 'military' version, the main difference to my knowledge between it and the 'civilian' version being the colour and some minor nomenclature. It is an active detector so it should detect most types of metal, but has a shallower search depth than a passive detector. Hence it is often used for mine detection, but can also be used for non-ferrous items such a aluminium components.

I have used the Ebex 421 and 421GC (very similar) extensively on minimum metal mine clearance tasks and know that they are a reliable detector to 12cm against a few gramms of metal. Larger objects will be detectable at greater depths of course. They are also easy to maintain on a daily basis, but the NiCad batteries have a definate shelf life, and don't forget to ensure there is a recharger included if the NiCad batteries are sold with the unit as they have a particular screw thread attachmant not commonly available. Ebinger do produce a battery compartment that takes commercially manufactured batteries, but I have never seen these in use (probably due to my working in remote locations where batteries are not available).

The most common fault I have found with these detectors is the electrical connection at the search head becoming disconnected. It is a relatively easy fix with a soldering iron and screwdriver.

Mention has been made of the headset or speaker being necessary for the detector to work. This is correct, the connector is a four pin type, two of the pins are connected together inside the connector so that plugging in the headset or speaker acts like an on/off switch for the detector. The other two pins are used for the speaker signal. Although it is nice to have a complete detection set, it would be possible to modify one missing a speaker or headset to make it usable.

 

[spotter]

Thanks for the additional info Harvey,especially on wiring the headsets.
regards allan